A Life Full of Green
by Evil Emoji
Summary: After the fallout of the funeral, what is the next step for the Titans to take. Sequel to Green Days.
1. Arc I: A Dream and a Beast

The beast snarled as he glared at his prey, his eyes bloodshot from rage. His prey stood before him, apparently unmoved by his attempts at intimidation. He extended claws, ripping threw his gloves as if they weren't even there. Still the prey did not move. This was a mistake. It was unable to react when he sprinted past it, his claws easily tearing threw it flesh. The prey howled in pain, and he reveled in the noise. The prey finally looked at him, its eyes filled with fear. His talons sunk deep into the earth as he basked in that look. The prey took off running, trying to flee from him, but his rage would not allow its escape. He quickly gave chase. The wound on its leg was deep, the blood it was leaving would have been simple to follow if it hadn't already gimped its movement. He easily over took it, giving it another deep gash, this time to the sides. It gave another scream, groped at its side, trying to stem the fresh bleeding. The prey spun around, looking for any way to escape, yet everywhere it turned, it could only see its piercing his eyes. It froze feeling entrapped by the ruthless predator. He blitzed all around it, new marks appearing at each pass. Right arm, back, left arm, chest, thigh, cheek. After so many strikes, the prey fell to its knees. He wounded it with machine like precision, making sure the no wound was deep enough to for it to bleed out. As he took one last approach towards his prey, he stared into its eyes, letting it know that these were its last moments. As he was directly in front of it, it weakly clasped at his chest. "Beast Boy, why are you doing this?" He looked around, seeing the remains of his allies, his friends, twisted into heaps of blood and flesh. Jinx, Raven, Rose, Blackfire, Cyborg, Robin. All, but Terra and the one in front of him. He turned back to her, staring into those deep green pools. "Please, stop this." As she stared into his eyes, they seemed to soften. He leaned over, gently licking the wound on her cheek, then kissing downward. His lips coasted downward, going from her cheek, down her chin, to her neck. He wrapped his arms around her, as his lips glided over her pulse point. As he felt her muscles relax under his lips, he opened his mouth and bared his fangs and…

"Sister, sister! Wake up!" Blackfire was trying to shake her sister awake. She had been shaking fitfully in her sleep, her tossing and turning being so violent as to break her bed and floor beneath it. And wake her sister up with a belt to the face.

"Whuh? Sister?" Starfire slowly came back to the world of the living. She groggily sat up, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"Lyte? Are you sure this is all right? This is the third time this has happened in as many nights."

"I…I don't know. I…I… I believe I require a drink." Starfire struggled to bring back the dream she just experienced. It felt as if it had been at the tip of her mind, but every passing moment, it seemed to fade further away. Starfire rose from her bed and slowly floated towards the kitchen. Her sister watched her leave, concern flowing from her eyes.

When she reached the kitchen, Starfire realized she wasn't the only one who needed a drink. Beast Boy was already there, sucking soy milk down as if he hadn't dank in weeks. She sighed as she admired his shirtless form as he guzzled down one of his favorite drinks, but a slight uneasiness formed in her chest as she stood there. Beast Boy eyes turned at the noise, and coughed as he the liquid went down the wrong pipe. Starfire gave a small giggle s he wiped with milky substance that had dribbled on his face.

"Star? Why are you up so late?"

She lightly glided across the floor to the cupboard and took out a glass. "I had a most unpleasant dream." She opened the fridge door and took out the mayonnaise.

"Uh Star, you know that's not the mustard, right?"

"Yes. The mustard is more for the casual drink. Mayonnaise aids in soothing the mind."

Beast Boy raised his brow. "Right… well Star, if you want to talk about your dream, I'm all ears."

"Well it began with- uhhhh-hmm." Starfire rubbed her temple and thought, but the more she tried to recall the dream, the less she seemed to be able to remember. "Strange. I can't recall what the dream was about."

"You sure? That seems pretty weird to me that you forgot it so soon."

"Yes, it is odd." Starfire finished her glass of mayonnaise and rinsed out the cup. She went over to Beast Boy and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

He blushed. "Well, Star, I hope the rest of the night treats you better."

"And you as well," Starfire floated out of the room.

Beast Boy sighed as he watched her silhouette fade down the hall. He went to the fridge and replaced the remains of the soy milk. Hopefully it would be enough for cereal in the morning. He headed back to his room and softly shut the door. He slowly walked to his bed and at down. Time passed, and he made no move to lay down. After two hours, dawn slowly approaching, his mind craved the sweet release of sleep. His eyelids were heavy, but every time he found himself nodding off, he bit his arm to wake himself. Through all this, images of his nightmare played through his head, and the things he had done to his friends in it.

Raven opened her eyes as soon as her alarm clock rang. She hit the off button as quickly as possible, not wanting the noise to alert the others. She leaned forward and shifts into her meditative pose, but instead of looking in, she reached out into the minds of the Tower. There were many things that she had expected to find, sense of intenseness and protectiveness emanating off their leader and the empty-headed bliss from his girlfriend who was wrapped in his arms. The silence from the mind of Cyborg. She also got nothing from Terra and Rose, but she had gotten accustomed to that. She chalked it up to the simple fact that they had been trained by Slade, a man who she had never been able to sense. She felt a magical surge at the lightest probing of Jinx. She felt the contentment from Blackfire and Starfire as the two sisters cuddled one another. The only abnormalities came from Beast Boy.

Beast Boy had always been an odd hole when it came to Raven empathic abilities. So often she had seen what was on his face and it coincided with what little she could read off him, so she had accepted what she read as fact. But ever since she found him claws extended and at his father's throat, Starfire holding a broken Terra in her arms, she had been monitoring him more closely.

For the most part, Beast Boy had seemed fine. She had gently probed him, feeling for any of the darker emotions that his fight could have rought. It was fine to begin with. What she had felt more numbness from him than anything. Yet as time went on, and she tried to go deeper, she met resistance. A lot more resistance than she had thought possible from him. So, she gave it a few more attempts to break though. She was unable to get a real read on what he was feeling, but something seeped out. It was dark, and angry, and aggressive, and lie nothing she had ever felt, or thought possible to come from her boyfriend's mind. She hoped that waking early would loosen the latches that he had on his mind, but from what she could tell, he was either wide awake even this early in the morning, or his mind had become an impenetrable vault in the last few days, Though, an interaction with Mento could be the cause. Villain as he was, years of practice had made Mento a master of the mind. And that worried her worst of all.

She sighed and got up. She quickly changed from her pajamas into her uniform and headed out of her door. _'At this rate, I should probably just talk to him. He'll most likely deflect, but it's at least a start in comparison to what I've been doing thus far.'_ She hovered into the kitchen and took out her tea kettle. She filled it half way with water and set it on the stove. _'Maybe I should ask the Starfire what she thinks. I don't know if it's something she developed based on her being an alien, her gods interference, or the fact that she was marked by Beast Boy in general, but her empathic bond may be able to shed some more light then my non-invasive probes,'_ she thought as she took out her mug and some jasmine tea. As she waited for the kettle to whistle, she stared at the mug with a well veiled look of fondness.

 **Flashback**

 _Raven stared at the green hero in disbelief. They had been living in the tower for a few days at that point and much had yet to be decided in those days. Schedules, chores, personal space, most rules in general had yet to be put in place. However, one of the first ones was that no one was to mess with Raven's things. Period._

 _She made everyone very aware of this when the first morning when after they had moved in, when Robin had moved the book she had been reading while she was in the bathroom. When she had returned and seen that her book was missing, she went frantic searching for it. It didn't take long before she found it had been set on the counter. But in the time, it took for her to find it every lightbulb on their floor, one floor up, and two floors down had to be replaced and Robin was the first to receive one of Raven's thorough lessons on why her things were not to be messed with, in front of the entire team. And here, not three days later, in his misguided attempt to befriend and help the goth girl by making her tea, Beast Boy had managed to drop and smash her only tea mug. Her eyes shifted slowly between the shattered remains of the first thing she had gotten from this plane, and the jokesters nervous eyes. She took several deep breaths, trying to the sadness and rage from overwhelming her. Feeling that she wouldn't able to keep it under control where she was, she swiftly opened a portal to her newly claimed room. And though she had not yelled at him, and nothing had broken, the look that he saw in the empaths eyes had told him all he needed to hear about it. The teen girl spent the next hour meditating, calming her mind. After that, she thought hard on how living with four people she had just met would work. Although most of the order of Azarath had to share much of their space, she had always been the exception to that rule due to her…unique heritage. And even then, when she did spend time with people, they had very similar personalities to her, quiet and introspective. Outside that door, there were four people that she barely knew, but seemed to be able to get along perfectly fine. The boys had easily bonded on their first night, eating pizza and talking about video games. And the alien girl had seemed to find her spot with them as well, her beauty only matched by the cute nature in which she spoke. And here she was, all alone; the odd one out. Breaking things, yelling at people, and nearly causing an episode about a broken cup. The more she thought about things, the more it seemed that they would become a better team if she wasn't involved. She wasn't used to being with people. She didn't really know how to work on a team. The more she thought, the more the answer seemed to be clear. Silently. She walked around the room and gathered the few things that she had unpacked. When she was done, she settled down into the bed, with only a small blanket covering her. In the morning she slowly floated into the living room. She would be there when they all awoke, and tell them that she would be leaving the Tower, but not the city. She would be available to them until they didn't need her. It wouldn't take long. Then, she would find another place to stay and hopefully, with the little time she had left, become a hero she and the order would be proud of._

 _When she entered, she was surprised to see someone already in the room. There was Beast Boy, face down, sleeping at the table. He had a bag in his hand, but she could not see what was inside. She made to retreat into the hall, but the door closed before she could. Beast Boy shot up, momentarily alert until he saw Raven. He quietly got up and shyly shuffled his way over to her, the bag in his hand and behind his back. When he reached her, the two looked at each other awkwardly. Raven was about to speak but he beat her to it._

" _I'm sorry about your cup. I know you don't like your stuff messed with, but honestly, I just wanted to try to break the ice a little more. I should have been more careful. Anyway, I hope the help make up for it," he said hurriedly, presenting the bag to her._

 _Raven, shocked that he went out of his way to get a peace offering, took the bag, and reached inside. It was a new mug. It was like her old mug, yet instead of being an ordinary white, there was a design of a purple bird on it, with the word "Be Coo" under its fluttering wings. She turned the mug around in her hands, trying to figure out how she should respond to the gift. She looked up to see the hopeful eyes of the anamorph._

" _I, uh, thank you. And apology accepted." She threw the bag in the trash and made her way to her kettle, to start making her tea. She then washed the cup. Afterwards, she turned around to see that Beast Boy had relocated to the couch. She could tell that he was hoping she could tell he was watching her, but his ears and hair were too far over the top of the couch for her to miss him._

" _So, how long were you in here, waiting for me?" It was a surprise to her that she asked the question._

 _Beast Boy spun around on the couch, hoping he hadn't already been seen. "Uh, just a little while."_

" _Really?" She looked over to the place that he had been sleeping. "This puddle of drool on the table begs to differ."_

 _He hopped from the couch, face flushed. He quickly headed to the sink and grabbed a towel. He ran over to the spot and fervently wiped it down. He the threw the towel back into the in. "Uh, sorry about that," he said while bashfully rubbing his head. Raven cocked her eyebrow at him, then returned to making her tea. When she turned back around, Beast Boy had returned bac to the couch, this time watching her from the side. She ignored him and took a sip from the cup._

 _This tea tasted…different. It didn't taste unpleasant or bad. Nor did it take markedly better that the days before. Yet, for some unknown reason, the tea seemed to make her feel…different. She slid the mug away from her lips and stared at it._

" _Is-is it okay?"_

 _Raven looked back towards him. He must have seen the look on his face. "It's- "_

 _She was cut off by the arrival of Robin, him stretching as he entered the room. He between the two, trying to gauge the situation. "Is everything okay?" he asked, mostly looking at Raven."_

 _Her eyes bounced between Beast Boy, Robin, and the cup in her hands, her mind rushing over the thoughts that had haunted her the last night. She too another sip of the tea. On the second try, the differentness felt kind of…good. "Yeah, we're fine Robin."_

 _The Boy Wonder stared at her for a long second, before going over to make himself a cup of coffee. "Good."_

Raven sighed. That had not been the last she had considered leaving in those early days in the Titans and it had certainly not been the last been the last time Beast Boy had broken something of hers. Yet, in those early days, all it took was a few sips of tea from this very mug, and that odd feeling returning to convince her that this all was worth it.

She was brought out of her thoughts of the past by the sound of the door opening. There he was, the very same boy who had gotten the cup in her hands. He was dressed casually, a long sleeve grey cotton shirt, black pants, and black and white sneakers, along with his gloves. He seemed surprised to see her, but didn't say anything as he put on a typical smile. "Hey Rae. What's going on?"

Raven observed his face. It was a normal look, but somehow it felt somewhat dishonest. "Nothing. Just having my morning tea. You're up early today."

Beast Boy noticed the way she was looking at him. He rubbed his head bashfully. "Yeah. I had some stuff that I wanted to do today and some of it has to be done real early in the morning." He smiled as he yawned out the last of the sentence.

The look on his face did not sooth her worries. "Is that right? Well, if you could wait long enough for me to finish my tea, I would be more than happy to accompany you. We could make a day of it."

"That's okay Raven. It's kinda just some guys stuff. You wouldn't be interested."

Raven thought she felt something when he responded but it was too weak for her to decipher. "You sure you want to go alone?" she asked, pushing her empathic powers a little harder.

"Yes Raven. I'm fine," Beast Boy harshly growled at her.

Beast Boy's hand flew to his mouth. _'She just worried about me. Why did I snap at her like that?"_

Meanwhile, Raven just stared at him. She had finally felt the feeling from him again and now she had to process it. _'It feels just as dark as it did the first time. However, there's something new about it. It has so much anger, but it feels…innocent. Childish even. And it was so strong, so close, but I felt nothing until he snapped at me.'_ The two watched one another, waiting for the other to do or say anything. Then, a shriek pierced the air behind Raven. She spun around, only to see it was just the kettle whistling. She turned back towards Beast Boy, but he was gone.

Raven sighed and finished making her tea, Jasmine this morning. She sat at the table and took a sip from the mug. She searched for that feeling that she got when she drank for it and allowed herself to revel in it. She stared into her mug, wondering what was going on in her boyfriend's mind.

 **Afternoon-Med Bay**

"Ahh!" Rose yelled as Cyborg pulled the bandages that surrounded the girls mid-section tighter. "Gaaah! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were enjoying this."

"It's good thing you know better then. I swear, it feels like I've been treating these wounds for a year at this point."

"Well, I've had a bunch of shit to do since then."

Cyborg steeped away from the girl and went over to a monitor. Rose put her shirt back on. "Yeah, I guess you have. Well, fortunately, it seems you heal pretty quick. You should be up and running before too long." He typed up some update to the data on the screen.

"Good. I can finally get some without anybody hovering over me." Rose took out cigarette and lit it. Cyborg grimaced. He had tried to convince her to stop smoking indoors, but when she gave him the ultimatum that she would either smoke in there or she would refuse to be confined into the Med Bay, he took the option that got her out of his hair quicker. "Speaking of people hovering, where's the Kid? I haven't even had a chance to talk to him since," her face contorted as she remembered, "I sent him ahead."

Cyborg looked over to her in mild surprise. "I was going to ask you the same question. I haven't seen much of Elf Ears since I checked on him that night. I figured he was sneaking himself in here while I was away." He watched as she took a long drag from her cigarette. "You're worried about him?"

She looked back at him. "And you aren't?"

"Of course, I'm worried about him. Believe it or not, this is the third time I've had a conversation like this today. Always the same response, we haven't seen him really, or a I thought he was with you. When I tried to ask Star about it, Blackfire cut me off from talking to her, saying she had had a rough night, and to leave her alone."

"Hmmm." Rose thought, as she took another drag. Cyborg watched her expectantly, hoping that there she might have some insight that he did not. After all, ever since she ha gotten here, she seemed to have an almost inhuman way of knowing what the green hero was thinking. After a while, an alarm on his communicator went off. Rose turned to him, apparently annoyed by the noise interrupting her thought. He looked at her apologetically then looked at the alert. He grimaced as he read the message, then looked back to the girl on the bed. She seemed to have returned to her thoughts, not seeing the expression on his face. He sighed as he dragged himself up from the chair.

"I'll be back to check on you later tonight. Got to go take care of a meeting." She gave him a shallow grunt in response. He walked out of the Bay and headed to their living area, where a man in black was waiting, standing in the shadows. He instinctively transformed his right and into is sonic cannon.

"Hey, there's no need to bring that out. It's just me." The man stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a mostly black suit. The top of suit seemed to button at several points, notably at where his shoulders met his chest. It was form fitting, yet had a couple of belts going across his waist. His mask covered little of his face, the ends point sharply up and down. Across his chest was a bold blue design in the shade of a bird. ( **A/N:** Nightwing Young Justice costume)

"Rob? That you man?"

"In the flesh. How do like the new suit?"

"Man, it's a good look for you. Much better than your old costume."

"Hey, I like my old costume."

"I'm just saying man. This is a big upgrade. There's only one real question."

"What's that?" he asked as he cocked his brow.

"How do you breathe in that thing?"

"Fuck you, man." Robin gave a shallow smile before his fade gradually shifted to business. "So, you ready to give them these?" He motioned towards the files on the table in front of them."

Cyborg sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Robin nodded and pressed a button on his communicator. After a little while, the original members of the Titans funneled in, with one notable exception. "Where's Beast Boy?"

Raven looked at her leader impassively as she sat at the right side of the couch. "I don't know. What's going on Robin? Is this meeting about your new outfit?"

"No, not really, but it does tie into it. This is something that impacts the whole team, and I really need him here while we discuss this. And please, call me Night wing."

Starfire sat at the opposite end of the couch, her leg folded under her. "Nightwing." The name sounded awkward coming off her tongue. "If this meeting is important, should not the rest of not the rest of the team be here?"

"We'll tell them later, Star. This is something we have to over between us first."

Cyborg looked at the screen on his arm. "Readings says that his communicator is still in the Tower. You think he just away from it?"

Raven sighed. "Unlikely. He left early this morning, saying he had some errands to run. He most likely left it because he didn't want to be bothered."

"Does anybody know where he went?"

Starfire shook her head and looked expectantly towards Raven. "I don't know where he went." Raven looked back over towards Starfire and she had a thought. "But, I think I know a way to get in contact with him."

"Fine. While you do that, I'll order some pizza."

 **Woods-Outskirts of Jump City**

The woods on the outskirts of Jump City were a generally peaceful sort. They were normally full of wildlife and teens hanging out. But tonight, was different. The creatures that typically skittered confidently through the area, had spent the day nestled in their nooks and crannies, hoping to be ignored. And those teens that treated these woods as their playground that hadn't been scared off by the sounds of snarling, decided that no amount of mirth would have been worth the chance of meeting the creature that had left such deep claw mark in the trees. As you went deeper and deeper into these woods, more and more claw marks laced the trees' trunks. In the days following, seeing how far you could follow the marks would be a test of courage. And those who would follow it all the way down would see a fallen tree, one not felled by man, but by repeated cuts by razor sharp claws. But today, there only stood a panting Beast Boy, sweat dripping from his face, staring angrily between his claws and the tree that was now dead because of them. "Augh!" he yelled as he lifted his head towards the sky. He then collapsed, his legs crossed as he stared mournfully at the tree. _'What's going on with me?_ _Why am I feeling this way?'_

" ** _Have you finally calmed down?"_** Beast Boy looked around, searching for the origin of the voice. When he turned back to face the tree, he was surprised to see the Beast, sitting on all fours on the splintered wood. His face contorted when he saw how casually his inner monster stood before him.

" _What did you do to me?"_

The Beast grunted in annoyance at his accusation, but the teen was unperturbed by it. **_"I have nothing to do with this. Whatever you are feeling right now, they are your own."_**

" _Bullshit. The last time I felt like this; the only time I've ever felt like this is when you first came out. Now tell me what's going on!"_

The Beast Bared his fangs at his host. **_"I don't know what is going on with you, pup."_**

Beast Boy claws reextended as he bared his fangs as well, looking fully prepared to pounce on the alpha predator. _"Liar. Tell me the truth or- "_

" _Beast Boy?"_ A meek sounding voice interrupted his threat. He turned around to see a troubled looking Starfire and Raven. Beast Boy looked back towards the tree, only to see that the Beast was now missing. He turned back towards his girlfriends and retracted his claws.

" _Hey guys,"_ he said good naturedly. " _How'd you guys find me?"_

" _We are located inside the brain, boyfriend Beast Boy. Raven has used my link to you as a way to more quickly contact you rather than spend much time searching. More important is why- "_ Raven placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, gesturing for her to not continue her question.

" _Robin, I'm sorry_ Nightwing _called a meeting for the team and you didn't have your communicator on you."_

" _Nightwing?"_

" _You'll see when you get here."_

Beast Boy rubbed his head. _"Sorry about that. I'll be there soon."_

" _Okay."_ Raven and Starfire slowly faded from his view. In reality, Beast Boy opened his eyes. He gave one more, sad look at the fallen sequoia before turning into a bird and flying home.

 **Titan's Tower**

Raven's eyes opened to see the worried green jewels of Starfire staring back at her. "You guys finally done?" The girls turned to see the Cyborg coming down the hall with a stack of pizza's in his arms. "About time. Where is the rascal?"

Starfire was about to answer but Raven beat her to it. "He was just hanging out in the woods. He said he'd be here soon."

Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, maybe some time in nature will do him some good. I've been worried about him the last few days."

Raven nodded as he headed into the room with the food. Starfire opened her mouth to ask a question, but Raven covered it. She looked back and forth down the hall, and mouthed the word "Later" to the alien girl. She nodded as they head back into the room.

 **A short while later**

When Beast Boy walked into the room, it was very evident that they were all waiting on him. He seemed unconcerned by the fact due to the way he took his time grabbing a plate and taking a few slices of pizza from the box. Nightwing raised his eye at him, but felling a harsh glare coming from Raven's direction, decided not to comment on it. "Now that we're all here, there something important that I have to show you all." He gave Cyborg a signal. Metal shudders slammed across the windows.

"Robin, what's going on?" questioned Raven.

" _Nightwing._ And to answer your question, this information needs to remain private from the world." Cyborg handed the files to Nightwing, who in turn handed them to the individual they were addressed to. "This is your briefing over **Project: Generations**.

 **A/N: Welcome to the first Chapter of A Life Full of Green. I hope you all enjoy the next step. Please Review, I love reading them.**


	2. Arc I: Project: Generations

**A/N: I figure if you've seen some of you favorite works get updated this last week, you've heard this line before, but lord is it true. Being on break is great for content creation.**

* * *

"Superheroes as we first knew them started popping up in the mid to late 1950's. Most of the acts of heroism were secluded and the heroes themselves very private, leading to many of these early accounts being discredited as hearsay or hallucinations. But as the types and severity of threats increased, the more tales of superheroes spread until in 1962, the first hero came out of hiding and declared themselves to the world. And as time went on, more and more heroes declared themselves to the world." As he spoke, illustrations of these early battle took place on the hologram in front of him. "However, with the emergence of superheroes came the emergence of more supervillains. These villains escalated the stakes, often forcing heroes or duos to work together to cover for weaknesses or have strengths that the villain hadn't planned on to put an end to the threat. As they worked together more frequently, the heroes began to talk about easier ways to contact one another for help. Finally, in 1966, the top eight heroes of the time formed the first full-fledged superhero team: The Justice Society of America."

Nightwing paused and observed his team. Cyborg was paying very little attention to his history lesson and was instead watching his green friend with a pensive look on his face. He understood why, as Beast Boy had continued his odd behavior as if nothing was wrong. He looked over to the green-eyed alien and saw she was listening attentively if with a confused look on her face. He turned to the other side of the couch to Raven. She simply looked bored. "Okay _Nightwing._ What's this history lesson got to do with this?" She raised the folder from the table.

Nightwing retuned to back to the monitor to continue his presentation. "I'm getting to that. Fast Forward 20 years. This first generation of heroes began to hit their 50's and 60's. Over that 20 years period, there was a constant flow of villains, with new powers, abilities, and ideas. Over the same time, relative to the villains, the amount of heroes that entered the field was lacking and the first generation of heroes were having a harder time keeping up. With so many new villains and many of them having difficulty traveling, the Justice Society of America disbanded in 1987 and spread to the corners of the nation in an attempt to keep crime under control. However, they were unsuccessful. Slowly, they realized that they were overmatched and were forced to retire until in 1989, the original Flash had a heart attack and was forced to retire. He was the last of the first generation of heroes." Nightwing paused and took a deep breathe. "The next 5 years were some of the darkest in recent memory. The ending of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall was lost on any American due to the criminals who ran rampant threw the streets. Organized crime flew up 352% during that period. People were afraid to go out in the dark and the effects of this long period of lawlessness can be seen even today, particularly in Gotham. It didn't end until the fall of 1995, when the first sight of Superman graced the skies of Metropolis and what was called the Second Generation of great heroes started to emerge."

As Nightwing had continued, the thought of what he was trying to get across was slowly dawning on Raven. With that last sentence, the implication of what was in her hand was made clear. "Nightwing, is this what I think it is?" she asked, her hand starting to distort the folder with the force she was gripping it. Beast Boy and Starfire looked over to her questioningly. She ignored their looks as she continued to look at their leader.

Nightwing stared into her eyes and nodded. "This new generation of heroes were determined that another period such as the early 90's would never happen again. In order to prevent a deficiency in the amount of quality heroes, the created the plan and set aside initial funding for project: Generations. The original plan was that after certain time, a group of apprentices, who would become Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and myself, would form the nucleus of a black ops unit for the League to use when necessary. These missions would be the final tests to determine if we were prepared to join the League."

"Friend Nightwing, I do not understand the purpose of this information. Do these papers include form in which to prepare us for these "black ops"?"

Nightwing began to answer, but Raven beat him too it. "No Starfire. What he means is that _we_ are that team. Or some alternative iteration of it."

"She's right. When I went to Batman about funding our team, he decided to re-appropriate the funds for the "Young Justice" program to us. And what you all are holding in your hands is the League's assessment of us."

Beast Boy stared down at the folder in his hands, wanting throw it from his hands as if they were on fire, but knew he couldn't. He started to breathe hard, knowing that his future as a hero had not only been decided but was currently in his hands. Beast Boy opened his folder and read. And then he read again. And then for a third time. He then closed his file and set it on the table. The four other original Titans waited for him to announce his results, although two already knew what they were. He stood up, looped to the back of the and took a deep breathe. "Who cares what they think? It doesn't matter, because they don't know me. All they see of me is on paper; they have no idea who I really am." He took another deep breathe but Raven could see the beginnings of the cloudiness distorts his forest green pools. "I'll be fine, because I've got my team behind me. Right?" Beast looked from side to side, hoping for affirmation in his beliefs.

Nightwing and Cyborg looked at each other. "BB…Look the thing is-" Cyborg began but was cut off by a harsh look from Raven. But what he said was enough.

Beast Boy looked and saw the guilty look on his friend's faces. His _brothers'_ Boy's hands dug deeply into the couch before he tore away, running off to who knows where, leaving deep gashes in the couch. Raven stood up and glared at the to remaining boys in the room. "What the hell is wrong with the two of you?! After everything he's been through over the last week, you two decide now is the time to drop a bomb that you're leaving." Small dark energy began to envelope miscellaneous items around the room.

"Raven, this isn't the way we wanted it. When I gave Batman the report about…what happened he gave the results of their assessments to me. He wants me and Cy to ship out in three weeks! I didn't, I didn't want to give him no notice and drop the bomb of "Hey, we're leaving tomorrow.""

"You guys could have just declined their offers. It's not like they're forcing you to join."

"Rae, they basically are. They want us to be the new League-Titans liaison. Besides, if none of us from the first group join, do you realize how it looks."

"Like we're loyal to the people we've lived with for years."

Cyborg hopped up at this. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that," he growled out. "It will look like we don't work. That this place won't help them complete their goals of having future heroes. That they could shut us down and go with their original idea and turn kids with powers and nothing else in their lives into their perfect foot soldiers who never had anything close to a normal teen problem."

They both glared at each other, until Raven took a deep breathe and flipped her hood up. The dark energy dissipated. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…imply anything from what I said. I'm just really worried about him."

Cyborg looked over to the kitchen table and sighed. "Yeah, me too."

"I'm going to go check on him."

"But Raven," Nightwing interjected, "you didn't check your results."

Raven continued floating away. "I don't care about them. Any place that he's not welcomed, I'm not going either." With those words she exited the room.

The two males watched as the door closed then turned to the remaining female in the room. She had made no noise sense the yelling had began and had pulled her knees to her chest, her folder squished between her legs and breasts. "Star," Nightwing asked gently, "did you check what it said?"

"I did. It informed me that I had met their expectations."

"That's good…right?"

"I…I do not know. I am able to understand why you have to go. I just do not know what I should do."

Cyborg walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "That's okay Star. Me and Robin had to give our answer because they want to give us additional stuff to do. But you, you have some time to think about what you want." Cyborg cocked his head towards the door, and Nightwing picked up his signal. "We'll et you think on it."

Both headed toward the door, but Nightwing stopped at the kitchen table. "What should we do with this?" he asked motioning the untouched pizza.

"Throw it in the fridge. Hopefully he'll eat it later." Nightwing nodded and put the tofu pizza in the fridge, while Cyborg threw away the box that had been a supreme and both exited the room.

Raven glided into the gymnasium, watching the changeling aggressively bench press 175lbs. He heard her walk in, but chose to ignore the fact that she was watching him. She seemed perfectly fine waiting for him to finish. Finally, he docked the weights, and swung up, still growling as he righted himself. "I don't want to talk right now," he said with a slight pant.

She remained unfazed. "That's never stopped you from coming after me before." Beast Boy grunted but gave no further response. Raven sat on the bench next to the him, sweeping her hood from her face. She softly reached over and grasped his hand. "Gar, what's going on with you? I haven't seen you act like this in a while. Not since the first time _he_ came out"

When her hand touched his, he tore away from her and stalked towards the door, intent on leaving her there. He reached the door, expecting the door to open and let them through. When it didn't open, he spun around glared at her. Her eyes met his, undeterred. "What do you expect from me Raven? I just heard that my best friends are leaving, on to the next part of their life. Without me." Beast Boy started back towards Raven. "Because through all these years where I thought we were trying to get better at being a team, at being a family, when we really were having an audition for if we would be recognized as true heroes of the world. And that these people who haven't met me, who don't know me outside of videos or pieces of paper told me that I'm not good enough." At this point he was right in front of her, breathing harder than he had when he had gotten off the bench.

Raven stood up, her eyes trying to decipher the turmoil going on in those deep green pools. She reached up and stroked his cheek, trying to calm him. "Beast Boy, I get it. You're feeling like you're being abandoned, especially when you feel like you need them most. And trust me, I gave them an earful about it after you left. And if that was the only thing this was about, I would at least let you cool off a little more before I came after you. But we both more that more has been going on here than what just happened. Like what me and Starfire saw."

Beast Boy breathed deeply, Raven's hairs lightly lifted in response. Her scent flooded his nose, momentarily distracting him. "Raven, I…I was just blowing off some steam. I mean, I was pretty upset after this morning after you tried to probe my mind." Raven gave a small flinch at his words and for the first time broke his gaze, looking down. The slight shift causing her scent to waft into the air and his lungs swallowed it easily. He stepped forward, leaving no room between himself, her, and the bench behind her. He reached up and cupped her chin gently lifting her face, making her peer into his eyes. When she was gazed into them, she felt the same juvenile feeling she had gotten this morning, with one notable exception; this time, it was framed lust.

"Beast Boy?" She tried to create room between the two of them, but was cornered in.

He felt her trying to pull away from him, and growled until she stopped fidgeting. He leaned forward until his lips brushed the outside of her ear. As he pulled back, he whispered "In fact, I think you owe me a little something for that attempted intrusion." He lifted her head til her lips met his.

For Raven, this was a very different experience than what she had felt before. The last time they had kissed, she had been in complete control while Beast Boy had just let it happen. This time, it was something else. The feeling of his lips against hers, the way her head bent in response to his, the way her body just seemed to know how to respond; the new stimulus was intoxicating. She brought her hands up, pushing against his chest in an attempt to break apart before she was pulled in too deep. He let out a deep growl in her mouth when he felt her resistance and refused to allow any room to be created between them. His growling quieted as the pressure of her hands against him lessened gradually. Finally, they stopped pressing against him completely and he finally broke free, allowing both to breathe. He gave a slight smirk as he felt he paw at his chest now that they had separated, her eyes now clouded with the same lust as his own. He stared into those deep purple pools, as his hands lowered from her face to take firm hold of her sides. They stared into each other's eyes, the smirk that remained on the boy's face daring her to do something. Tentatively, Raven's hands left his chest. They slid upwards, coasting up his collarbone, over the sides of his neck, to cupping his face in her hands. She started pulling his face downward. He acquiesced, allowing his head to slide downward back until their lips met once more. This time it began softer, the back of her mind trying to keep her from being overstimulated. And for a small time, Beast Boy allowed this. The soft kisses between the two, breaking apart after only a few seconds before reengaging. After the first few times however, he began to get impatient. When they met again, Beast Boy gave her sides a small squeeze and pulled her roughly towards him. She moaned into his mouth and he eagerly took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth, while hers admirably, if futilely, tried to fight his off. Beast Boys darkened eyes danced with mirth at any small part of her continued to fight, even if her body had surrendered itself to him. He felt her hands shift, moving from his face back down to around his neck. This signaled to him that it was time for his hands as well. His hands slid from her sides to her back and from there, began their slow descent. When his finger finally reached her backside, they eagerly curled around the supple flesh, causing her to moan. He broke lip contact just long enough to give a wry chuckle before she pulled him back for more. His hands rotated and continued down her thighs, his claws leaving a trail of angry red marks in their wake. Once he reached low enough, Beast Boy pulled upwards forcing Raven legs to wrap around his waist. Once he was sure that she had firm hold of him, he began to walk.

Raven had been on cloud nine, her mind blank from the new stimuli she was feeling. Even the light pains the she received from the make out session only seemed to push her deeper under the spell. She danced in this haze of new feeling until she was jarred suddenly. Her eyes slowly unclouded finding herself pinned to the wall by Beast Boy, her legs tightly squeezing him. Her arms had loosened from around his neck, and he had used this new mobility to lower his head, laying rough kisses from her neck to her collar. "Beast Boy?" she almost whispered, her breathe starting to become ragged. _'I have to stay calm about this. It doesn't look like anything has broken yet, and I want it to stay that way. I just -have to-ugh- focused and uh, stop this.'_ She didn't really want to stop, but she could already feel whatever control she had while she was in that haze beginning to slip away from her. She could feel her magic begin to leave, affecting nearby machines, making them shake subtly. "Beast Boy," _pant,_ "I need you to, uh, stop." She moved her arms back to his chest and tried pushing against him. She could feel the vibrations from his growling, and understood the last thing he wanted to do was stop. He redoubled his efforts against her neck, trying to reinvigorate the lust that had enveloped her before. He gave a tight thrust against her, hoping that it would make her moan in joy, but it proved his undoing. "Ugh! Garfield!" His head snapped up and saw what he had been doing to her. His lust started to fade as he looked upon her, her usual ashen skin reddened, light purple marks that had just begun to emerge descended her neck. He looked down and saw light red marks on her legs, marking the path his hands had traveled. He heard the room around them shaking, slowly softening as the girl in his arm regained control over her feelings. The lust finally finished draining from of his eyes and he waited for her breathing to return to normal. When it di, he slowly set her o the ground, sure to make sure he could support herself, and walked back to the bench where it had all started. He sat down, his elbows on his knees. After a short while, Raven joined him there. When he felt her sit down he scooted away, trying to put as much distance as possible between the two. She tentatively reached towards him.

"Garfield- "

"Raven, what's wrong with me? What happening to me? I keep on doing these, these things and I don't know why. And the weirdest thing is, I know it's me doing it. At least, I think it is. It doesn't feel like someone is controlling me or there's anyone messing with me. It's not me, but for some reason it feels like me. You get what I mean. What am I saying, of course you don't? I don't even know what I 'm talking about, but it doesn't matter. What matters is I'm sorry. I didn't mean for all that to happen, but it doesn't change the fact that it did. I'm sorry, so, so, so, so, sorry. I wouldn't blame you for wanting to break up with me, just please don't kick me out of your life!"

Raven softly cuffed is cheek. "You done yet?" He gave a slight nod. "Good. Firstly, you only had to ask once. I forgive you. Secondly, Beast Boy, what's going on in your head does matter. At first, I thought it was you were just upset, but this is something more. Something we can't just hope will go away on its own."

"Raven, what do you mean? If you're talking about going into my head, I won't let you!"

"Beast Boy, this it's too dangerous for me not to check on you. Did you even recognize the fact that you ate meat today?"

"I, what, when?" He thought for a moment. "The pizza. I-well it doesn't matter! It's still too dangerous!"

"Why? What are you so afraid me seeing in there?"

"It's not what I'm afraid of you seeing," he replied softly. "Raven, whatever's in my head, it managed to affect you when you're out here. I managed to completely override your sense in the real world. I'm afraid of what will happen if you go in there and it get to you in there like it did out here. What if it infects you too?"

Raven closed the distance between the two. He stiffened when the outsides of their legs brushed against one another. "Beast Boy, you have to trust me. The way you are right now, isn't helping anyone. It'll just go on until someone really get hurt, and what happens then? Do you think you'd be able live with yourself?"

"So, you think I'd be able to live any better if I ended up hurting you?"

She pulled her own face closer to his. "I know you won't. But your worth the risk." She set her forehead against his, her chakra in the center of his head. They each closed their eyes. She still felt some apprehension from him. "You know Garfield, even though I hadn't planned on that happening, I kinda enjoyed it."

"R-really?" The both opened their eyes and saw a deep blush on each other's face.

"Yeah. If you calm down, and we figure out what's wrong, we might be able to try again. This time with both of us being a lot more aware." She leaned forward enough to give him a chaste kiss, no ore that a second before her lips retreated. Beast Boy gave a short laugh before he closed his eyes.

"Tease," he said jokingly, but was more relaxed than before.

Her lips curled upward for a small smile as her eyes closed as well. "That's what you think." She spoke her incantation before he could respond. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" And their world spun into a sea of darkness.

* * *

 **A/N: Happy Holidays and I hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Arc I: Memories

"Come on, Rose, we've got to get to bed. As late as it is now, if traffic cone decides to make us have morning training, it'll be the death of us."

"But it's so boring without anyone to talk to. You know I won't be able to get to sleep 'til the pain meds kick in. The least you can do is wait that long."

"You said the same thing last time and we were still here at four in the morning."

Terra was stuck between the most annoying tug of war since…well pretty much ever. Jinx was in a hurry to finally get to bed after spending the day with Rose and Rose wasn't quite ready to let the two of them leave since "Somehow, with 2000 channels, there's still nothing on." Honestly, Terra didn't care what happened one way or another and at first it had been funny. Jinx wasn't the strongest person physically and the only reason she stood a chance in the contest was because Rose was both drugged up out of her mind and finally decided she was done getting reinjured. But after it had been going on for five minutes, being pulled apart by what felt like the worlds to oldest super powered children, it was getting…irksome.

"Come on Jinx. Have a heart."

The pulling from Jinx's in got a little lighter. "What's in it for me?"

Rose looked around before her eyes finally settled on the blonde in her hands. "What if I told you about the story of how I learned that Terra was in love with Beast Boy?"

Now, Terra had a dog in this fight. "You know Rose, Jinx is right. We may have to be up in the morning, so we really should get going," she stammered out, easily breaking the grip of the mercenary and trying to head to the door. She was suddenly yanked back. Jinx stood their frozen, a cement ball the refused to release her or move at the prospect of hearing the story.

"You've got yourself a deal!"

Terra pulled at her roommate, but the promise of embarrassing stories seemed to make her an unmovable force. "Please Jinx," Terra pleaded. "We really should get going."

Jinx turned around and gave her a shit eating grin. She spun herself and Terra in circles. When the room stopped spinning, Terra found herself sitting on Jinx's lap, the trickster's arm wrapped firmly around her waist. "Sorry, roomy. Now take your punishment."

Rose gave a small, fond smile at the interaction between the two before she shifted back into the hospital bed. "It all started when I showed up after a mission."

 **Flashback- Slade Hideout: New York**

"Shit, I'm tired. Huh-didn't think you would be here Pops. Weren't you on some crazy mission to conquer Jump City."

Slade sighed at the interruption. He turned towards his only daughter, seeing that she was covered in soot. "I take your contract was successful?"

Rose had pulled off her shoe and shook even more soot out of it, noting that her father had deflected her question. "Of course, it was. Do you think there was a way that I would be this dirty without completing the job?"

Slade did not respond. He walked behind his daughter and pushed her into the pit before them. She rolled down the curved metal walls, landing on her butt at the edge, her shoe left on the lip of the pit. She looked back up from where she was pushed. "What the actual fuck?"

"Ravager, I do not care that you went independent, but as long as you're using my hideouts in your endeavors, you will pay me the proper respect. And today, to make up for your disrespect, you will help your fellow acolyte prepare for her mission."

For the first time, she noticed that she was not alone in the pit. Across the pit, stood Terra, her legs so far apart that her knuckles grazed the ground. She panted heavily while her hair stuck up, creating a mattered halo of gold framing her face. Her eyes glowed a fervent yellow, not wavering in the least. The look on her face made Rose scowl.

"Please. She's barely even conscious at this point. Even with me like this, it won't take long for me to take her down. This is a waste of time."

Slade fixed a cool eye on his daughter. "If it will be so easy, then take care of it quickly. That way it will waste even less of our time.

Rose sighed as she surveyed the area from her to the younger girl. The shattered remains of Slade bots were strewn across the ground. Some were in pieces; some clearly impaled by the very earth beneath their feet. There were random rectangular slabs jutting from the ground, remnants of crushed androids jutted haphazardly from them. She skeptically looked back up at her dad. He gave her a curt nod. She sighed. "Listen Blondie, I'm sure that you don't feel like doing and I sure as hell don't feel like doing this. So why don't you play nice and make this easy on the both of us." There was no response. "Blondie?" Nothing. _'Damnit, she's really deep under.'_ Rose took a tepid step forward. "Terra- "At that step, Terra reacted.

Terra shifted her foot forward; the earth quickly rose in steps. It made a crescent shape until it got chest high, avoiding all the previously destroyed ground and headed straight towards Rose. She made a small roll to avoid the curve. _'Fuck me.'_ She threw a scowl up at Slade, who deflected it with an impassive gaze. Rose took a deep breath and slowly let it out. _'Well this isn't going to be fun,'_ she thought as she subtly shifted her remaining shoe of her foot and unsheathed her blade. She took a breath as she threw the shoe to the other side of the room. The air was still as it fell. And when it landed, the pit exploded into action.

Terra reacted to the shoe. Under where it landed, a nine-foot-tall pillar burst from the ground. Rose took off from her position, hoping the distraction would be enough to buy her the time she need to cross the pit, but the was no such luck. Half way across, Terra's unconscious became aware of her approach. She let out a snarl as she raised her arms. Rose felt the earth shift, so she rolled to the right. Right where she would have been, an earthen spike burst from the floor where she had been. Terra snarled as Rose continued to come towards her. Terra pulled up three previously dragged up rocks and flung them towards her. Rose's blade easily sliced through the first two, but jumped on the third, using it as a launching point. The young mercenary flew through the air, doing a twirl to increase her so she landed at her intended destination: right behind Terra. With Rose being in the air, the only Terra had no way to react until she landed. She roared and turned, intent to take out her opponent but it was too late. With a quick strike with the hilt of her sword, the girl was knocked completely unconscious. Rose scowled as the blonde fell into a slump. She sheathed her sword and gently pulled Terra onto her back. The white-haired girl steadily climbed up from the pit and went to her father, who, after the fight had ended, simply turned from the pit, and walked to a table covered in schematics.

"I thought the point of her training was to teach her control," Rose scorned.

Slade did not look up. "She was in perfect control while she was down there. Her attacks were focused and precise; the very definition of control."

"But she wasn't in control. Her movements were based off self-preservation and instinct. She doesn't need to be an emotionless killing machine, she needs to be able to rely on her powers if she needs to."

Slade finally looked up at his daughter. He drew to his full height, using his 6'4" frame to tower over Rose. "She is my student and I will train her how I wish. So long as the end goal is reached, how she gets there is none of your concern. Now do not question my methods again."

Rose stared into his eyes with defiance but felt Terra shift on her back. She took and deep breath and let it blow out of her nose. She hopped, making sure the younger female wouldn't fall from her back and stomped to their shared room. She sat on the bed on the left and let Terra flop off her back. Rose then turned her legs, so she was correctly orientated on the bed. She covered her with a blanket and slid into her own bed. And she watched her sleep, trying to calm herself down. After a while, she watched a Terra began to squirm in her bed, murmuring softly. Rose rose from her bed and climbed into the bed, gently cuddling with the girl that she had incapacitated. The blonde stopped squirming and instead leaned back into the warmth that had arrived. She nuzzled the top of her head against Roses chin, gently murmuring, "Mmmm, Beast Boy."

At this, Rose raised her eyebrow. _'Really, the green one is the one she wants. Didn't know she was into that.'_ And apparently, she was into that, based on the way that her butt was gently grinding on her pelvis. Rose gripped her hips, trying to keep them still. Terra didn't appreciate the attempts to stop her, because she started squirming even harder, until she finally broke from Rose's grasp, spun around, and pulled the mercenary into an aggressive kiss. Rose stared, perplexed at what was currently happening while quietly appreciating the work the younger girl was doing. Her tongue invaded Rose's, seemingly searching for something it wasn't finding. The fervor slowly fell as she opened her eyes. She gave Rose a confused look before she broke the kiss and gave a…

 **Current Day- Med Bay**

"Gah!"

Rose smirked at Terra outburst. The blonde had been listening to the story intently, much of the start of that memory being a blur. She had obviously been hoping that Rose would omit the most embarrassing part of the story but at this point, she should have known there was no chance of that. Her face had a steady blush rise on her face as the story had gone on. As she had gone on, Terra had begun to squirm out of the grasp of Jinx, but there was no breaking the embrace. When Rose had reached the end of the tale, even Jinx had a blush on her face. Finally, at the end, her voice burst from her mouth and she went limp in Jinx's arms.

"Aw, looks like she got a little over excited," she said as she smiled over the younger girls.

Jinx poked at the limp girl. She got no response. She's no fun to tease if she's like this. I better get us to bed. Thanks for the story, I'll be sure to use it later." Jinx made to get up, lifting her roommate as she got up.

"You know, you can leave her with me for the night."

Jinx raised her eyebrow. "You sure? She gonna be safe- "Jinx didn't finish that sentence as the room lowered 20 degrees from the glare Rose's face now had. She set Terra into Rose's bed and raised her arms in mock defense. "Just a joke. I know I have nothing to worry about from you."

Rose gave a shallow growl, but Jinx just smirked as she twirled out of the room, giggling on her way out. Rose sighed, knowing that any chance she ever had of intimidating the girl had flown out the window. Still, that was fine. Rose leaned over and adjusted the machine next to the bed, negating the next administration of her pain medication. She couldn't afford to fall asleep. She then readjusted herself and Terra, pulling her flush against her body. She nuzzled against her fellow apprentice's hair, wrapping her arms around her midriff. She sighed, listening to Terra's heartbeat. "I'm sorry, Tara."

Raven slowly floated down, the dark void she had entered when coming into Beast Boy's mind dissipating as she descended. She landed daintily on the ground and observed the shape that his mind took. _'It's odd, yet somehow fits him perfectly.'_ Before her, stood a true urban jungle stood. The buildings were covered vines and mosses of all shapes and colors all descending while perfectly avoiding the windows of the edifices. The vines wrapped around the street lights, creating a long series paths hanging over crosswalks of the roads. Animals such as monkeys and birds hung from the vines, carefully observing the new arrival to there home. And they weren't the only ones to take notice. One significantly sized cat seemed to take an interest in her as well, steadily approaching the half-demoness. Raven recognized it as a Siberian Tiger, though this one was substantially larger than the one that Beast Boy turned into. She flashed her eyes a violent red, hoping to convince it that this meal wasn't worth the trouble. The animal did not slow its approach in the least. Raven called her magic to the surface but did not stop it. The way it advanced her went against any predatory instincts that it would have had. When it finally reached her, it rubbed its head against her legs, as if it was a normal house cat. As it looped back in front of her, its tail wrapped around her wrist, pulling her forward as it went. She stumbled a few feet before she stuck her feet in the ground. The tiger turned to look back at her, an annoyed look crossing its face. Raven stared at it, perplexed.

"You…want me to follow you?"

The tiger yawned and licked its chops. It then shifted back to standing and walked a few feet before stopping again and looking back at her.

Raven sighed and started to follow it. _'I'm currently following a tiger to…wherever it wants to lead me. This is somehow simultaneously the most insane thing I've done yet makes total sense. Damnit Beast Boy's brain.'_

As they continued deeper, the atmosphere started to change. The buildings, once four or five stories tall, gradually began to shrink down. The road they walked shifted from cement to a cobblestone road before finally ending at being firmly packed earth. More tree littered the sidewalk than light posts, and the vines between them became much thicker. The background noise permeating from the building were much louder here as well, yet simultaneously seemed to dull into a natural blandness. The animals here were larger as well, less to scale with the size of the tiger, but still larger than they ought to be. The odd thing she noticed was as the animals got larger, the more she was able to recognize them.

At the end, the road lead to an earthen hut. Surrounding the hut were Beast Boys most common forms: The Gorilla; The Yeti; The Cheetah; and the Tyrannosaurus. They all cast their eyes on the two approaching the hut. The tiger paid their attentions no mind, steadily leading the blue haired half demon until they reached the door of the hut. The tiger released his tail from around her wrist and looked at her expectantly. Raven watched it carefully. The tiger looked her in the eye and turned its head toward the entrance.

"You want me to go in there?"

The tiger responded with a curt nod. Raven took a deep breath and headed toward the doorway. As she passed him, the tiger rubbed its head against her hand and its body against her leg, much like a cat would. The cacophony of noises seemed to cease, and the only thing that could be heard were four distinct growls. Raven turned around. If possible, the four guardians of the hut seemed to have gotten even bigger, their teeth bared, and their eyes darkened as they watched the display between the girl and the tiger. Raven knelt to face him and rubbed its ears.

"Thank you for being my guide, but I think its time for us to part ways." The creature nodded, a low rumble of displeasure emanating from it as it pulled away from her grasp and started bounding back down the path. The four guards watched it go, their teeth remaining bared as it disappeared into one of the nearby alleys. Raven watched their eyes, noticing that the darkness that had taken over them during the interaction had not faded in the least. In fact, they only seemed to get darker as they watched it dart away. They were on their haunches, seeming ready to give chase.

"Do not chase him."

The four whipped their heads back towards her, yet she did not flinch at their movement.

"Do not chase him," she repeated. The guards continued to stare at her. Slowly the shadows that enveloped their eyes seemed to fade, and their dark looks returned to more stoic demeanors. As the last of the dimness flowed out of their eyes, their growls stopped, and the noise from the streets seemed to return. Satisfied with this, Raven returned to the door of the hut and entered.

The hut was very plain. The floor was earthen as it was outside but bore no loose dirt. It was lit by an open fire in the middle of the room, yet no smoke came from it. In front of the fire, stood a massive mountain of a Beast. The Beast. Its ears raised as she entered, but it remained facing the fire. Raven slowly advanced towards him, watching for any sudden movements, until she was a few feet away. "So, you sent for me," she stated, barely hiding her hostility.

He shifted to look towards her, remaining on his knuckles. He slowly strolled towards her, knuckles make dull thuds as they landed o the earth, until he arrived at her. Raven looked at him, noticing while he was larger than normal, his size was nothing compared to the animals outside. In all actuality, the hut seemed much too large for him to be this size. "I apologize if you felt disrespected by my summons, but getting you here was …required."

Raven eyebrow rose at the way the Beast was acting. Though they hadn't had any vocal interaction before, she imagined he would be a little less…eloquent. "Fine. What is it that you _require_ me for?"

The Beast motioned his head back toward the center of the room. He returned to the fire and Raven followed him. Raven looked back and forth between the Beast and the dancing flames. "What is this?"

The Beast looked up from the fire. "Look at the flames." She looked at him incredulously. "Please."

Raven rolled her eyes but began looking at the flames. She had expected to look at it for only a moment before turning away, but she found herself taken in. The way the flames flowed and waved, bringing her deeper into a trance. The faint sound of drums flooded the background. Raven blinked and looked around, looking for where it was coming from, but found she was no longer in the hut. She was now in a plain room. The room was sparse, but she could tell whomever owned the room was fairly well off, from the tasteful white couch and loveseat set, the glass table set with black metal frames, and a moderate entertainment center. She looked around for any sign of whoever owned the place, until she her a female cry coming from a room further in. Raven turned towards the sounds and quickly floated towards it. She got to a door that the sound came from and tried to open the door, but found her hand go right through it. Raven brought her hand back and observed it, noticing it was slightly translucent. She was brought out of her observations by the sounds of footsteps approaching her, yet she saw no one coming. Suddenly, the door handle shook, and the door opened, it phases right through her. 'What's going on in here?!" yelled a masculine voice as a younger version of Steve Dayton appeared in front of her. Raven grimaced at the man and tried to brush past him to see into the room. Instead, she went right through him without response from him or the occupants in the room.

It was a child's room, that would be no greater than eight or nine. The walls were painted a deep green and there was a firm oak desk with a medium sized television set on top of it. Comic books were also stacked on top of it. The floor was cover in action figures. However, what truly drew Raven's eyes were the occupants of the room.

On the top bunk of the bed, a small form resided, one she had seen it before. At no point could she mistake that deep forest hair and reflective emerald eyes. However, that is where the similarities to the boy she knew ended. Beast Boy's eyes, typically alight with joy, were now twisted with a dark curiosity. His face, usually smiling, was now grimacing. And his hand, typically out as an offer of friendship, was now curled in, blood dripping from his claws.

Raven looked to the woman, clutching her shoulder. The woman looked more concerned than in genuine fear at what the green boy had just done. The woman, who had long brown hair and light tawdry eyes, look up in apprehension as the entrance of her husband.

"Steve, calm down. It was just an accident. You know how he can get after steak night."

Steve threw a scowl towards the upper level of the bed before going to his wife. "He shouldn't get like this Rita. Particularly from just eating meat." Steve wrapped his arms around her torso and gave Rita's neck a little kiss. "You need to go get that taken care of. I'll handle him in here."

Rita looked at her husband with worry. "Steve, just…just don't whoop him. He's spent so much time with people abusing him, being unable to trust people. He can't help but to lash out. He's just a scared little boy and he needs to feel he can trust us."

Steve sighed. He pulled her uninjured hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. "Very well, my love. I will not lay hands on the child. However, he will understand what is and is not acceptable in this house."

Rita gave her husband a smile and leaned up to kiss him right below his ear. "Thank you, dear." She walks out of the room and straight through Raven. Raven think about following her but she disappears as soon as she turns from the door, however Raven can still hear her footsteps. She then perceives a deep, shuddering breathes from Mento's direction.

Raven turns around to see him barely constrain himself, his eyes bulging. He marched up to the base of the bed and pulled Beast Boy down by the back of his shirt. The green child struggles to escape, kicking at Steve and clawing for the safety of his bed, but it's no use. Steve holds the struggling boy by the back of his shirt and starts to march out of the room. Raven, just being an astral projection, can only follow as she hears him start to berate the boy.

"How dare you, you little pissant? I take you in, give you clothing, food, and shelter and this is how you repay the favor. By hurting my _wife._ You should be grateful she said something, because most people would be bleeding on the floor for delivering such a wound on her." The two arrived at a door, where he took out a key with his free hand and unlocked the door. "Fortunately for you, I still have some use for you. And I have a much more efficient means get you to behave properly." The two swiftly slid into the room, the door closing with a heavy thud. Raven made to follow them, but all around her went black.

Raven couldn't tell how long the darkness had stayed around her. She tried turning around and using her power, but the darkness refused to fade, until suddenly, she found herself someplace new altogether. She was standing behind a sitting Beast Boy at a kitchen table. Steve and Rita were also sitting at the table, all seemed to be enjoying a nice dinner. "May I be excused," asked the boy. Rita looked over to him in consternation.

"Beast Boy, why haven't you eaten touched your liver. You love liver."

He squirmed uncomfortably. "Ms. Rita, I don't think I should eat meat anymore."

Rita raised her brow. "Really? Why's that? Because if it's about the ouchie you gave me the other day then it's okay- "

"No!" Beast Boy yelled. Rita looked shocked and Steve gave a glare at the boy. "No, it not okay. I hurt you and…and I don't want to do that again…mom." Raven could tell the word felt foreign on his tongue.

Rita, on the other hand, eyes lit up at his using on it. She jumped up and ran to him, glassy eyed, and pulled him into an embrace. "Okay, dear. If that's your decision, then I won't make you eat the liver. I'll e sure to make sure to make a vegetarian meal, special for you. Can't have my…my son getting sick from not having the right nutrients." Rita sniffled. She set the boy back into his chair and rushed out of the room, tears flowing freely from her face.

Raven opened her eyes. She was back in the earthen hut, the fire now lower than before. She looked over towards the Beast, who was watching her intently. "Why did you show me that? What does it have to do with anything?"

"All will be made clear soon. Please return to looking at the fire"

Raven watched him quizzically, but he seemed earnest about it. Her eyes returned to the fire, and she was pulled in once more. These visions went much quicker than her earlier one. The second one was of Beast Boy discovering himself for the first time. Rita walked in on him. It was awkward. Then, even though she couldn't see it, she heard Rita speaking with Steve about it. The same thing a before happened again. Steve took Beast Boy into the room once again. Then black. This time, no break. The next scene was Beast Boy, a couple of years older now. He was fighting with Robot-Man. Or sparring as it was. Either way, it seemed that Beast Boy was pushing it too far. He was clearly looking to damage the android man. Steve had negative man put the boy to sleep, but not without much resistance. It went black again.

Every scene seemed to hold the same pattern of Beast Boy displaying an undesirable act or reaction, before being taken into that mysterious room, before everything going black. All except the last one. The last one showed that fateful night at the chemicals plant when they met Adonis for the first time. Strangely enough, when the chemicals fell from the darkness descended again. However, instead of staying dark, almost immediately, a corona of red, orange, and yellow burst forth. The light was so bright Raven covered her to keep from being blinded.

When her hands fell, Raven found that she had returned to the hut. The fire, this time had not dimmed at all. Raven looked back at he Beast. She then looked around the hut, it still feeling much too small for just the too of them. The she turned back to the fire. "Cruelty. Aggression. Dominance. Lust. Things that Beast Boy has had control of ever since he came. Since before he came her. Until you happened. Until the funeral happened. What I just watched weren't just his memories were they? They're yours as well."

Raven turned back to the Beast. Somehow, despite her knowing she had been here for little time, he seemed even smaller compared to the room. She slowly reached up and touched his face. "You're eroding into him, aren't you?"


	4. Arc I: Newly Marked

"The Beast is eroding into the rest of Beast boy mind? What exactly does that mean?"

Raven had assembled the remainder of the team in the Med Bay. After exiting Beast Boy's mind and ensuring tat he was…resting peacefully, she quickly assembled the rest of the team. The fortunate part of the team had been asleep for a few hours before the goth had called for the briefing or hadn't been asleep at all. The unfortunate part had only just gotten to sleep and were understandably tired. Still, Raven sighed at Jinx's question.

"My theory is that, in a way, Beast Boy's mind was essentially like mine. However, how my mind is well compartmentalized, and my emotions concentrated into interactable and, most importantly, _controllable_ forms, his were segregated into a loose amalgam of mental forces, recklessly battering against the walls Mento had installed. That is, until the Beast incident." All present could see a holographic clip of the first fight against Adonis and Beast Boy. The clip stopped at the point where chemicals spilled on the two. "At that point, the chemicals unlocked a primal piece of DNA, one that had a mind capable of handling it, the unfamiliarity with the host that would allow the amalgam to overthrow the mind, and the strength to deal with anything that might want to stop it. The amalgam latched onto the piece of DNA and formed the alternate personality that was the Beast."

"But Beast Boy was supposed to be cured by the application of the antidote administered by Cyborg," Nightwing pointed out.

Cyborg took a step forward. "The antidote I synthesized and administered was designed to repair the cellular damage done to Beast Boy."

"Would not the emergence of the Beast constitute one of these effects?" questioned Starfire.

"It's more like it opened a locked box. One that Beast Boy may or may not have found eventually. But now that the contents were out, repairing the degeneration wouldn't have affected his ability of his psychosis to attach itself to it. Especially if the link was established before the degeneration was repaired."

"Be that as it may," Nightwing continued, "that also wouldn't explain how he's been like this ever since we've known him, and we never affected anything. We've been brainwashed and had our minds put into puppets. How on Earth wouldn't we have detected it?"

"That's the reason we didn't detect it. Based on physiology, there's no one like Beast Boy on Earth. There's no comparison that could be made to alternatives to ensure proper mental faculties. All we have was our primary scan when the team was first formed."

"Meaning all of our data was comparing it to someone who had already been mentally altered," Nightwing finished.

"Even worse, we could have enforced them while trying to return his mind to how it should be. Hell, this could have impacted Beast Boy at even more fundamental levels; explaining his susceptibility to Mad Mod's brainwashing or even impacting his personality."

Terra looked particularly disturbed by this. "So, do you mean…"

"That even the person we know as Beast Boy could be just a program, installed by Mento." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "So, what do we do now?"

"What do we do? Is there anything that we _should_ do?" asked Raven. "He's not just someone he-

Cyborg saw that this was going nowhere good and decided to intervene by going over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Raven calm down. You know that he didn't mean it like that."

Raven took a breath before breaking away from her cybernetic friend. "I know. I'm just frustrated at the situation."

Cyborg just nodded. "I get that. I think that we're all tired. It's been a trying and emotional week since…last week. I think we all need some rest and we'll return to it when we've had some time to think on this." Cyborg moved away from the empath and towards their leader and put a guiding hand on his shoulder. Nightwing looked from the hand to the man who it belonged to. He then nodded and the two started out the door. The rest started to follow them before Raven spoke again.

"Wait. There's something else you guys need to know."

The rest of the girls stopped at the door and stared at her. Then they heard a wry chuckle from the bed. "Of course, there is." They all turned to the white-haired mercenary. "Oh, please. None of you noticed? No one would ever give a speech like that without taking off their hood." The rest turned towards Raven. "So, love, why don't you take that hood off and show us that pretty little face."

Raven huffed and lifted her hood. And on left edge of the nape of her neck, there was a mark. A raven.

 **Titan's Gym-1 hour ago**

"So, did you figure out what's going on in there?" Beast Boy asked, his eyes looking desperate as the two emerged from the dark ether. Raven wasn't sure how to stat this conversation as she lifted her hand and cupped his chin. He gave a subtle shudder as her fingers glanced against his jaw.

She pulled her hand back as she felt his face quiver at her touch. "Uh, sorry."

Beast Boy gave a wry chuckle. "You can be sorry about a lot of things, but don't be sorry about that."

Raven tried to smirk at the weak flirting, nut the news…the things she had just seen would not allow her to. "Beast Boy, there are some things that you need to know. The thing I saw in there…you won't like them." She stood up and started to pace in a small circle in front of him.

He gave her a weak smile and put his hands on his knees. "Well, I figured that when I let you up there. I'll try to be fine with what you tell me. Just…if you're afraid of how I'm reacting or feel like I'm getting bad, do what you have to do."

She sighed, and she told him. She told him about how Mento had been affecting his mind through his childhood. She told him how she saw how the Beast had formed. Finally, she told him about the Beast dying and what it would do to him. As she told him, she could hear his breaths getting heavier and see him muscles tense. She winced as he began to grind his teeth hard enough to be audible. As she finished telling him, she watched him muscles tense and relax, him straining against himself to keep under control.

She watched this for a few minutes, before putting her hands on his shoulders. His head snapped up as she started to touch him. He shot up and stood, looming over her, his jaw clenched. "Raven, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't stay here."

She kept her hand right where they were, her eyes never leaving his. "I'm not worried. I know I can trust you, Beast Boy." She slowly elevated herself to his level standing on the tips of her toes. Beast Boy fought against himself, his fingers curling in his attempts to focus on anything but how close her lips were getting to his and the sweet scent of lavender that emanated from her, long after her last interaction with the substance. She started with a few soft pecks against his lips, teasing him and testing his patience simultaneously. She felt the muscles in hi shoulder tense at each of their meetings. At the last one, she could feel them expand to the point where they felt as though they'd rip right threw his skin. _'His patience is almost broken. Now is the time.'_ He opened his mouth, whether about to rebuke her or to take her as his own, she struck. She pressed her lips against his and this time, when their lips met, Raven was firmly in control. Her tongue invaded his mouth, easily conquering his territory as her own as he was torn between enjoying her, his innate thirst for dominance, and holding back that part of himself. Finally, when she felt that she had pushed him to the brink, she retreated, her tongue sliding against his left fang. Both were breathing hard as she finally broke away. For a while they just stood there like that; Beast Boy trying to calm himself, while Raven tried to refocus after what she had just done. Beast Boy shook out of it first, his head lower, sliding his face against hers as he descended, reveling in her scent. When his nose hit her collar bone, his course reversed, forcing her neck up and exposing her pulse point to him. He bared his fang as she winced, preparing for his fangs to pierce her pale neck. And then…nothing. She continued to wait, her eyes closed, but there was continuously nothing. She felt him pull away and opened her eyes. There he was, standing there, his eyes, fluctuating between red and green, shaking as they did so. "Beast Boy?"

"Raven, I can't. You were just in my mind and you might be feeling confused. I don't want to do this if you don't really want this."

Raven watched as he struggled against himself, so sure that he was going to hurt her that he denied himself to do what his blood, no _HE_ wanted to do most. She reached up and grabbed his head, pulled him down to her level, and bit into his neck, hard enough to draw blood. He gave a soft grunt as he teeth broke his skin and she could feel the demonic blood in her veins revel in the taste of his life flowing into her mouth. She pulled away and licked the wound until the blood stopped flowing from it and pulled his eyes into alignment with her own. "Beast Boy, if I didn't want this, I wouldn't let it happen. If I wasn't prepared to face the consequences of what this means, I wouldn't let this happen. Now, do what I say and bite-ugh!"

He didn't let her finish, as he before he leaned over and bit down. He drowned out the sound of her cry and focused on not wasting any of what she had allowed him to have. He went for as long as he could, before the sound of her forced him to pull away. He held her in his arms, lightly shivering. He pulled her closer, softly licking the wound that he had created. The shivering only intensified while he waited for the blood to stop flowing. Finally, the blood stopped flowing and he pulled away, immediately curious about the new smell that emanated from the empath. "Did I hurt you?" he asked apprehensively.

"I'm fine. Good in fact."

He gave a half smile as she regained her footing. "That's good." He gave a sniff. "What's that smell?"

Raven blushed and she brought her hand to Beast Boy's cheek. "Nothing you should be worried about. Now sleep." Beast Boy eyes closed, and he started to fall. Before he hit the ground, black energy surrounded and leveled him horizontally. Raven looked down and smiled at the prone male and she reached up to her neck where he had bit her. Already, the marks were fading. She gave another shiver and began walking to drop her boyfriend-mate off in his room.

 **Med Bay – Present**

"Well, well, well. Someone been naughty tonight," Rose continued with a cheeky smirk.

Raven threw a look at her and Rose decided not to press her luck. "Listen, I just felt the need to warn you. With what's going on with Beast Boy, he might be…different than he was before. I just need you guys to be sure that you're prepared for that."

"And what about you, Raven?" asked Blackfire. "IS…this what you want?"

Raven threw her hood back up over her head. "If I didn't want this, then I wouldn't have this mark. I just wanted you all to think bout what it would mean to take this mark. This means you made a commitment to him. And to be sure that this is a future you could see having before you continue to do this."

Silence, Blackfire turned from Raven. The followed her out. Raven felt a hand clutch her shoulder. She looked up to see a smirking Rose. "Good work."

Raven rolls her eyes but says nothing.

 **Jinx's and Terra's Room**

Jinx flopped into her bed, her hand behind her head as she stared at the ceiling. She continued to stare as she heard Terra crawl into her own bed, all thoughts of Rose's story forgotten. "So, what do you think?" Jinx asked.

"What about?"

Jinx took a pillow from her bed and threw it at her roommate. "Don't be like that. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Terra sighed. "It doesn't matter to me. I a chance to have Beast Boy all to myself. He spent so much time, so much effort, so much of his heart running after me. Trying to save me from myself. There's no way I let something as small as this ruin my chance to be with him. What about you?"

"Hm. I'll probably keep him. It was weird to have such a well-behaved boyfriend. A little…reconditioning won't be too bad."

Terra rolled her eyes as she heard her roommate begin giggling and snuggled deeper into her blankets. She needed her rest. After so long of her needing him, now he needed her at her best.

 **Starfire's Room**

"You agree with her?!" Blackfire said incredulously, looking at her sister as though she had a third head.

"Yes sister. I spent much time worrying about what I would do, that I forgot that my opinion is no longer the only one that matters."

"But sister, how is that fair to you? You did not ask to be marked."

Starfire reached up and caressed the sun mark on her neck. "That may be true sister, but when I made the decision to accept Glor Forq, I accepted whatever the results may have been. I made the choice to be in a yorgin. I made a commitment to Beast Boy, before X'Hal and I refuse to dishonor it."

Blackfire huffed. "Fine. I will say nothing more to you on the matter." Blackfire slid under the covers and turned away from her sister. She then felt Starfire nuzzle into her back.

"Thank you, sister."

 **Beast Boy's Room- 11:00 A.M.**

Beast Boy emerged from his room in a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else. He couldn't remember how he had gotten there or when he had gotten to bed, but he somehow got there. He yawned and stretched before catching a whiff of something sweet. He followed his nose, not even looking towards where he was going. He soon found himself bumping into the source of the smell, and instinctively wrapped his arm around it. _'Mm smells like strawberries.'_

Jinx on the other hand, was very confused. She had just walked out of the shower and was still drying her hair. She was wearing a black sports bra and Pink leggings. She was heading towards the gyn when, suddenly, she felt herself being wrapped by powerful arms. She was about to blast whoever it was off her but heard the sniffing. _'It's just Beast Boy. There's nothing to worry about.'_ She then felt his head start to shift downward and remembered what Raven had told them the night before. _'Maybe not as safe as I thought!'_ Jinx flicked her fingers.

Beast Boy didn't know what hit him. One second, he's just immersing himself in that delicious smell, and then he felt himself being violently shoved away from hit by some unknown force. His eyes shot open, his teeth bared, and claws extended as he leapt up, growling as he prepared to tear the aggressor apart…only to realize that it was Jinx who had done it.

Jinx smirked as Beast Boy stopped solid, and confused look emerged on his face. She allowed her hand to glide up. A finger teasing from his neck before ending by flicking his nose. "Down, boy." Beast boy growled in response, though this one had very different connotations.

Beast Boy shook his head, before starting to loom over Jinx, giving her a predatory grin. He playful stalked closer to her, meanwhile Jinx pretended she was being approached by a ferocious beast. This went on until a grunt was heard behind Beast Boy, Beast Boy turned around and Jinx leaned over to see that it was Raven.

Beast Boy sheepishly rubbed his head. "Uh, hey Rae." Beast Boy's face scrunched when he heard his voice. There was a lot more bass than usual and it sounded kind of gravely. "Ahhh…uhn-uhn…Ahhh…. Man, my voice sounds weird today. Right Guys?"

Raven and Jinx had taken notice of his new voice and were quickly enraptured by it. Beast Boy turned between the two, waiting for a response. The combination of his voice and shirtless physique left them temporarily mute. Finally, Raven croaked out a soft, "Yeah."

Beast Boy's eyes lit up when he heard her sound like that. He slickly spun around the empath and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, do you like that mama. Do I sound," he lowered his head to the mark on her neck as he purred, " _hot,"_ putting emphasis on the end.

He soon held nothing as she teleported from his arms, though she reemerged from the darkness only a few feet away, this time a little more composed. "Follow me," she gently ordered, leaving no room for question, as she floated past Jinx. Beast Boy instinctively growled but quickly stopped. He blinked confusedly before following her. Jinx followed the two, seeing it was in the same direction that she was going. Besides, yoga could wake a couple minutes.

 **Titans Gym**

Jinx was surprised to be lead to her intended location as she followed the two. The two even headed to the padded back corner of the room, the area dedicated to stretches, practice matches, and, more recently, Jinx's yoga. "Hey, Mama, what are you guys planning to do in here?" asked Jinx.

Jinx jumped behind Beast Boy when she saw Raven's face. Beast Boy gave a wry chuckle until that look was directed to him, where he then hid behind Jinx. The two alternated going behind each other, backing out of the room, until Beast Boy finds himself backing through a portal, just to back into Raven. He turns around to give her a sheepish grin while she rolls her eyes. Jinx giggles at the two and heads back over to them. "Beast Boy sit down."

His eyes darkened when he heard the command. "Yeah, Mama, what are you going to do if I don't?"

Raven met his eyes. "It will be easier if you do this willingly. I don't want to have to make you sit down." Beast Boy watched her for a second longer before the darkness faded from his eyes. He sat down on one of the mats. "Now, I think you've notice yourself maybe doing and saying things without really thinking about them." He fervently nodded, worried about what would come from his mouth. "Well, I figured this might be an affect of…the affliction, well, I thought that meditation would help balance you."

"Really?!"

Raven raised her eyebrow. "Is that so surprising? I meditate with Starfire frequently."

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I had tried to join you before, but you were always…less than welcoming of it."

"Well, that was years ago. Things have changed, and we should change with them." She sat down and assumed her meditation position. "Now, let's begin. I want you to close your eye and breath in deeply. Focus on your mind and begin chanting with me. Azarath; Metrion; Zinthos…"

Beast Boy repeated the chant with her. He tried to focus on himself, but he found himself distracted. He could hear the subtle movement of Jinx stretching. He could smell the must that had settled into the room and the way the fragrances of the females with him sliced threw the smell. With Jinx noticed his fidgeting while he tried to focus and let out a small giggle. His face twitched at the new sound, morphing between his own smile and a snarling grimace. Raven could feel the way his emotions were fluctuating and stopped chanting. "Beast Boy, stop. I don't think this is working. I think _someone_ here is a distraction."

Jinx busted out laughing. "I don't think that I'm the main problem here. He was distracted while I was just stretching. I think the main problem is your method."

Raven raised her eyebrow. "My method? This method is tried and true."

"Yeah, it's perfect for those who don't have dozens of stimuli flying into his brain at any given time. He can't focus on meditating by sitting still."

"And what would you suggest?"

"He should do yoga with me."

"Yoga? Seriously?"

"Yes yoga. It's the perfect mix of activity, which will help cull him paying attention to his senses, while allowing the mind to recede into a neutral relaxed state. Come on, you can even do it with us."

Raven looked unsure. "I don't know."

Jinx pulled the empath up. "Come on, you can stand to be a little more," she leaned in as she finished, " _flexible."_

Raven rolled her eyes.

 **A/N: Please Review!**


	5. Arc I: Resolutions

They all set up mats and Jinx smiled as they stood there. "Okay, lets start with something simple." She bent forward, her legs and back straight as she reached to the floor. "Downward facing dog," she stated plainly. Raven gave a her an annoyed look as Beast Boy couldn't help but give bark of a laugh. The two followed her directions, however reluctantly from that point. Raven kept a silent watch of Beast Boy's mental state as they went along, and for the most part, he seemed to be relaxing. However, the were moments in which there were sharp spikes of emotions from certain poses.

"Jinx, I think that's enough for today."

"Why's that? He's just really getting into it."

"That's what I'm worried about. I think he's gone as far as he should for now"

"You worry too much. He's been fine. Enjoying it, even. Now, we'll shift to bird dog."

Beast Boy shifted his arm, stretching as far as it would go…

 **Flashback**

Blue eyes stared up at him, while his adoptive father stood overhead, stomping into his side, trying to force him to release the woman in his hand. "Beast Boy, you have to let me go."

"No!" he grunted through gritted teeth.

She looked into his eyes, her own sparkling at seeing how much effort he was putting in trying to save her. "You have to let me go, Beastie. You need to be safe."

"No way-ah!"

He winced at the last blow. When his eyes reopened, he had hope when she brought her other hand to his. Her next words chilled him. "It's okay, Garfield. It'll be okay." She used her hand to tear his grasp lose. He was forced to watch helplessly as she fell into the abyss below, the last thing him seeing was her small smile, and the hand that had been in his not seconds before. Another strike met his side, but he felt nothing as he heard cruel laughter.

"Now you understand a fraction of what I feel. This is why tools should stay tools and do what they are told. You are nothing but misfortune for those around you."

Beast Boy slowly got up, his arms limp at his sides and his head down. Mento smirked at the broken man. "It's time for you to learn your place in the world, animal."

He went over to Beast Boy and reached to grab him by the labels, fully intending on ending his son. However, as his hands neared the green teen, he felt them start shaking. He stopped and examined his hands, wondering what was happening.

His eyes shot up as he saw a blur of green and black shoot past him. He twisted around to see Beast Boy, claws deep into the ground from stopping his momentum. Mento followed a line of blood from the teen, to find a gash on his arm. His arm snapped to the wound, stemming the flow of blood. He turned back to Beast Boy, but instead he was forced to jump away as another swipe of claws came after him. He backed up barely dodging away from the slashing claws. However, the attacks persisted and were getting closer to connecting, tearing at his clothes. After one the attacks missed, he kicked the teen, successfully making space between the two. Accessing the damage, he found he had cuts on his sides and arms, but no significant damage had thus far been done. His moment of reprieve was up however, as Beast Boy renewed the assault. He dashed from side to side, his movement erratic to throw off the older man. Mento still was staving off mortal wounds but he could feel the slashes having an effect. He was slowing down, and the claws were closer to finding something vital until, "Ahh!"

Beast Boy had finally hit true, causing his old mentor to cry out. He growled as the man gripped his face, blood profusely falling from behind his hands. "You worthless little shit! You tore out my eye!" he yelled. Mento flew to the ground as Beast Boy tackled him from his new blind side. He put his hands over his chest, his claws having receded.

"Shut up! You took her away from me! She gave up everything she had ever wanted for a chance to see me again! And…and …and you killed her in cold blood, you son of a bitch!" As he spoke, his claws started to extend. "All she wanted was another chance…a chance to figure to what we were. What we could be. And you took it away."

"Beast Boy," a soft voice said.

Beast Boy was sobbing as he yelled this out, the pain of losing her yet again reopening old wounds. His claws started to extend, easily piercing through Mento's suit. "She pushed through so much, and just when she had a normal life and could have been safe, she chose to come back to me. To this life. And now she's gone because of it!" The claws had now penetrated his skin, slowly entering the body.

"Beast Boy," the voiced strained itself, trying to be heard

Beast Boy's tears stopped, and he stared down his adoptive father, shuddering. "I guess I can finally be what you always wanted me to be. Someone who puts the mission over his morals. Steve Dayton, you have an killed in cold blood. You cannot be allowed to keep run amuck. It's time for you to go." His claws sunk deeper still, inching ever closer towards his heart.

"Beast Boy!"

 **Titan's Gym**

Beast Boy found himself back in the gym. He glanced around the room, noting the worried looks on Raven and Jinx's faces. He tried to pull himself up when he noticed his hands were stuck _in_ something _._ He looked down to see a heavy bag that looked to have been mauled by some sort of ferocious animal. He retracted his claws from the bag and fell backwards onto the floor. Stuffing falling onto the mats, he gave the girls what he thought was his sheepish smile, however they could easily see how forced it was. "Well, huh, this is awkward."

"Uh…yeah, kinda?" Jinx was unsure of what to say about what she had just seen.

Raven kneeled to his level and tried to wrap her arms around him. He jerked away from her.

"I don't think it's the best time for that right now."

She reached out towards his retreating form, firmly pulling him back to her. "No, this is the only time for it. If we let you start retreating now, it's the only thing you'll do from then on. I won't let you run away from me."

Raven felt a firm poke to her shoulder. "And what about the rest of us? What am I, chopped liver?" Raven rolled her eyes as Jinx giggled, before she easily enveloped both in her arms. Beast Boy looked up to her, over Raven's shoulder. "I may not have been prepared for that, but Raven gave us a few ideas what might happen as… aftereffects from what _**HE**_ did to you. And while we're not sure who you are after all that, I, at least, am willing to try to know the new you. The _real_ you."

Hearing their support, he tried to pull them closer than they were before. This caused him to put himself lying on the ground with the two girls falling onto his chest. Jinx gave a small snort, and then found herself barraged by small kisses. However, after the first few, they got longer and longer as they descended from the top of her head, down to her cheeks and lips, until she put a finger to his lips as he reached the underside of her chin, effectively stopping him. "Uhn-uhn-uhn, bad Beastie. I said I was willing to give the new you a try. That means no special hickies form you until I get more time to feel you out."

He gave an affirmative grunt as his head was pulled to the opposite direction and he found new lips on his. After a moment, Raven pulled away. "That's fine. More for me." He whole heartedly agreed and started a similar barrage to Raven, tis time starting on her neck and going up to her lips. This continued until he could no longer ignore the pouting that was going on behind him. Finally, he laid one last smooch on Raven and looked up to the ceiling pulling both as close to him as he could and sighed contentedly.

 **Ops Center**

"Friend Nightwing? Are you in there?"

"Over here Star," he replied as he sipped a cup of coffee while staring at the monitors. "What's up Star."

"I have returned to give you my answer over moving on to the League of Justice. While the offer is tempting, I must respectfully decline the invitation."

Nightwing tried to look shocked but both could see he had expected her to come to that conclusion. "Are you positive, Starfire."

"I am sure. As the person who will need me most will remain here, it is my duty as both a partner, a teammate, and a hero to help them through this time."

Nightwing made a small nod. "I understand your reasoning and will make note of it." Starfire nodded to his reply and started to float back towards the door. "Star, I'm sorry it came down to this. This isn't how I wanted it to be either."

"I understand that, friend Nightwing. We will have to spend much time together over the next few weeks to enjoy the little time we have remaining together."

Nightwing watched her go, so much left unsaid between the two of them. He turned back to the monitor and began a call that he knew he was going to regret.

"Batman here."

"This is Nightwing. I have just received the last response for the invitations to the League." He looked his mentor in the face. "Both Raven and Starfire have declined."

"I see," the dark knight replied. "This is not unexpected given the way the two offers relationship with the one rejected."

Nightwing notably flinched at the word rejected. "I still don't agree with the reason why you rejected him. I'm not sure I would have reacted any differently given the situation he was in."

"That doesn't help the fact that it shows hat he would do it. Even given the severity of the man's actions, Mento spent much of his life as a respected, if controversial, member of our society. And given the visual on the injuries he received, the review council was not willing to invite him, particularly how close he was to killing."

"Even if the person was under the effects of years of mentally compromised. Particularly to be willing to execute the threat if it was for the perceived greater good?"

Batman didn't immediately respond, but his eyes squinted into a glare. Finally, he responded, "I can put in for him to be revaluated due to extenuating circumstances. However, that means he will have to be reviewed by an impartial third party."

Nightwing nodded. He had been expecting such a condition. Thank you, Bruce."

"If that's all, I have a meeting with the rest of the League for the next step your inductions. Batman signing off."

The monitor went black and Nightwing's posture noticeably relaxed as he blew out the breath, he didn't know he was holding. "That could have gone worse."

 **Med Bay- 5:00 p.m.**

Beast Boy made a little half knock on the door frame as he walked into the Med Bay. He had realized he hadn't seen the (temporary) resident mercenary of the Tower since they had gotten back from the funeral. He shuddered at the look he was receiving as the merc waved him in. He did his best to sound confident as he said, "Hey."

Her brow raised, noting the new baritone of his voice. "Hey? That's the best ya got?"

"Uh, what I meant to say was hey, how are you feeling?" he replied hurriedly.

She continued to look at him skeptically before she sighed. "It's good to see yah, Kid, but god you're hopeless. Luckily for you I still want to jump your bones, or I would have cut you apart as you entered the room."

"Uh, thanks, I guess."

"Don't take it too personally, Beast Boy," said Terra as she stirred with a yawn. She had been asleep in a chair next to Rose. "That's just her way of saying how worried she was about you," she elaborated while stretching.

"Yeah, well, he was my assignment. I have the right to worried about him. I have a reputation to think about."

"Whatever. I was worried about you Beast Boy. How are you doing since…you know."

He thought about lying, but then he remembered who he was talking to. "I've…I've been better. I've been feeling… tense ever since I got back. I felt a little better this morning, though." He scanned the two girls, noting bandages over their arms and legs. "How are you guys?"

"I'm doing fine. Only a few fractures here or there, on top of reopening my old wounds. Dear old Dad is really going soft in his old age. He used to train me harder than that as a kid."

He looked over to Terra. She brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm okay. Only a few cuts and bruises from fighting the Slade bots. Starfire caught me before I even glanced off one of the cliff walls so I'm all good."

The memory of her falling from his fingers stirred something within him. "That's a relief. Robin had said you guy were alright but it's a relief to see it in person. Terra, can I talk to you outside."

Terra nodded and followed out of the door. When the door closed, he slammed his arms next to her head, boxing her in. "Don't ever do something like that again," he growled out. "I don't want you to ever want you to try to sacrifice yourself for me."

"No," she responded bluntly.

"No? What do you mean no?"

"No, I won't promise you I won't try to sacrifice myself for you."

"I can't accept that. Terra, when I saw you fall from that cliff, something inside me went out. I was out of control, intent on taking someone's life. I wanted to kill someone when I thought they took you from me. I don't ever want to feel like that again."

Terra reached up and grabbed him by his hair, pulling his lips onto hers. He was surprised but allowed himself to melt into it. When she broke away from him, he found he was boxed in on the other side of the hall. "Listen, Beast Boy," she started, "I came back here for you. Superheroing and all the other stuff that comes with comes second to you in my mind. Always. So, you're not going to intimidate me into not trying to protect you, even if it puts my life in danger. And as for that part of you that went out, I doubt that it went out as far as you think."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means Beast Boy, that you had him at your mercy. He was on the ground, half blind and weak. Adrenaline pumping after a long fight. Yet, me and Starfire were able to reach you before you finished the job. I've seen people killing for revenge, because they were paid to, and some that just liked to kill people. Trust me, if you wanted to kill him, even if you thought it was the right choice, then he would be dead right now."

"But, I almost did it. I wanted to do it."

"But you didn't do it. That difference can make the difference in the world."

Beast Boy stared into her eyes and noted something that hadn't been there any other time she had been with him. In her eyes, there was a fire. He flipped his head up, a soft thud echoing when his scalp hit the wall. "Guess I finally found something that riles you up. You won't relent will you."

"Not on your life."

"Fine." His head fell back down with a roguish grin. "Well, then I don't know if that counts as our first fight as a couple, but that was definitely the first kiss. It's got me feeling a bit frisky."

Normally, Terra would react shyly, but she was feeling a rush. "Oh, tell."

"Yes, do tell Beast Boy," Rose repeated, smirking at the door.

"Uhm…" he looked to Terra for help, but she had frozen realizing that Rose had obviously been watching them. "Uhh, nothing?" he said with a shrug. Rose started laughing at them.

 **A/N: Hey everyone. It's been a while. I'd like to wish you all a happy Memorial Day weekend (for those in the United States). I hope you guys enjoy and please review.**


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